The path to Strength
by Luffy15
Summary: Ranma was unable to get the cure to the weakness moxibustion, now trapped without his strength, will he lose himself as well to his own doubts? Ranma/Shampoo, Ranma/Ukyo, Ukyo/Ranma/Shampoo
1. Chapter 1

**The path to Strength**

**Summary**: Ranma was unable to get the cure to the weakness moxibustion, now trapped without his strength, will he lose himself as well to his own doubts? Ranma/Shampoo, Ranma/Ukyo, Ukyo/Ranma/Shampoo.

**Disclaimer**: I don't even own my computer, what makes you think I could own Ranma½?

**AN:** So anyways, this is only an idea that came to me last week, and when I actually sat down to write it just flowed from my fingers, it basically wrote itself as it needed almost no effort on my part. Now, one thing that I must make clear, is that I have not watch Ranma½ in years, what I wrote was a lot of guess work, half remembered parts of the anime, half assed internet research, and a lot of speculation on my part, and I don´t actually know when I will update this, so I will make this a challenge, this can be taken by anyone who wants to try it, the only condition I will set for the challengers is to pm me first, and that they actually use a pairing that is not Ranma with Akane, there is enough of that, they can use any other pairing but Akane or OCs.

"Dialogues"

"_Thoughts"_

**Begin**

ºªºªºªº

Ranma couldn´t believe it.

Standing over the form of the beaten Happosai, Ranma could only stand there and watch helplessly as the torn pieces of paper that held the cure to the moxibustion were swept away by the wind, never to be seen again.

It had been going so well. After Ranma learned the Hiryu Shouten Ha from the old ghoul, a powerful technique that needed no physical strength to use, capable of even defeating Happosai, Ranma thought that he could finally make the leech give him the restoration point to the moxbustion weakness.

So he went to confront the pervert, and he was able to execute the technique perfectly. But there was something he didn´t count on, and that was the pettiness of Happosai, as with his last strength, while inside the tornado, he shredded the manuscript of the cure, making it impossible for anyone to fix it.

And so, Ranma could only stand there, looking at the torn pieces of his only hope fluttering away on the wind. It was over.

His life as a martial artist. Over. His goals in life. Over. His dream. Over. Hell, without the ability to be a martial artist Ranma wasn´t even sure he knew who he was anymore.

For as long as he could remember, training to be the best martial artist had been his goal in life, his reason to be, his motivation, his drive, everything was for that one and only goal. And now it was gone, forever away of his reach.

Turning away from the sight of his dying dreams, Ranma began staggering away in a drunken manner, his head down, and tears freely running down his face, tear that he didn´t even bother to wipe or hide, there was no reason to be strong anymore, there was no way, not after this day.

A little bit away, seeing Ranma walk away in utter despair, were the three fiancés, each one of them felling sad and concerned for the pigtailed boy.

Ukyo was the first to react, running after her best friend to try to console him, anything else was unimportant right now, the only thing on her mind was to be there for her friend, she wanted, no, she needed to be there for him, to help him pull through this, to get him back to his feet.

Xian Pu was next. After seeing spatula girl running after her airen, the Amazon went after them as well; intent to help Ranma, right now everything else could wait. Her great grandmother, the Neko Hanten, anything else but Ranma was to be forgotten for the moment. In Xian Pu´s Heart there was only one priority, to help her airen regain that fire that made her truly fall in love with him, the fire that she could see was close to extinguished after this battle.

Watching the two girls run after Ranma, Akane could do nothing but wish for her body to react and follow them, but it was no use, she was rooted to the spot. The girl could not believe what happened. She had really thought that Ranma would be able to get the cure from Happosai, she never expected that the old pervert would be so cruel as to destroy the cure.

And now, seeing Ranma walk away with that lost look in his eyes, that defeated gait on his walk, and that slumped shoulders in depression, she could do nothing to help cheer him up.

She wanted to go after him. Oh, did she want to go after him to help him, but she couldn´t. Every time she tried to move, one question came to her mind. It was a question that Ranma asked of her when this began, and to her shame, she couldn´t find an answer the first time.

What good am I without my strength?

Ranma asked that some days ago, when he first got hit with the weakness moxibustion, she hadn´t been able to answer at that time. And now, days later, and with the seemly permanent lost of Ranma´s strength, there was still no answer. She just didn´t know.

Tears stared to roll down her face, tears of frustration and sadness, frustration for her inability to answer such a simple question, sadness for how useless she was in helping someone who had become so important to her.

ºªºªºªº

It didn´t take long for Ukyo and Shampoo to catch up to Ranma, he was just aimlessly walking around after all, and once they caught up to him, Ukyo began steering him to her home, where she could get him something to eat and maybe get him to rest a little.

Shampoo began helping her get Ranma to her restaurant without complain, and Ukyo didn´t question her, they didn´t need to say it, but both of them only wanted to help Ranma, and fighting with each other would only hurt him right now.

Both girls were really worried for their fiancé, he hadn´t made a sound since the fight with Happosai. No complain, no screams of anger, or sadness, or anything. He just followed them passively, lost to the world, it didn´t seem he even knew where he was, or more like he did not care where he was.

It did not take that long to get to Ucchan´s, and once there, Ukyo sat Ranma down at the bar, with Shampoo sitting with him to keep him company and make sure he was ok, while she went to make some okonomiyaki for them to eat.

Letting her mind wander while she cooked, an ability gained after hour upon hour of practice, Ukyo began thinking of ways that she could help Ranma, but it was becoming pretty clear in her mind that it wouldn´t be easy.

"_What would I do if I lost my dream?"_

That thought came unbidden to her mind, and it hit her with the strength of a bullet train. What would she do? What would ANYONE do when faced with that kind of dilemma?

It was then that the seriousness of the situation began to set in. Ranma was facing exactly that. Without his strength, there was no way for him to continue being a fighter, he just would never be able to fight his own battles anymore, and for someone like Ranma, who only knew how to fight, this must be the worst kind of torture that he could imagine.

Ukyo did everything in her power not to start crying over their food. She needed to be strong, for him.

While Ukyo was cooking and having her own thoughts about Ranma, Shampoo was just sitting next to Ranma, unsure of what she could do, if anything, to snap Ranma out of the state he was in.

Shampoo could only look sadly at Ranma, as he sat at the bar, his eyes lost to the world hidden beneath the bangs of his hair, his shoulders tens with stress, his hands hanging limp at his sides, his was truly the visage of defeat, and Shampoo couldn´t bear to see him like that.

"_It is not right!"_ Shampoo cried in her thoughts _"Airen not suppose to look like this! Airen strong male! Powerful man! Airen suppose to stand tall and proud!"_ with that, Shampoo, proud Amazon warrior, broke down crying, startling Ukyo, who snapped out of her own mind when she heard Shampoo began to sob.

Paying no mind to the okonomiyaki chef, who was trying to calm her down and keep cooking at the same time, Shampoo stood to her feet, grabbing Ranma´s shoulders, and forcing his head up, to make him look her in the eyes.

"Please Airen, do not be like this! It is not right!" exclaimed Shampoo, tears running freely down the sides of her face, her concern for the boy clear in her tearful eyes. "You find way to get better! You always do! And I can help, I will help, anyway I can! So please… please…" Shampoo´s voice lost volume and intensity by the end, but her eyes still looked full of determination, but she wasn´t able to finish her speech before being overcome by her emotions, so letting her actions speak for her she gave Ranma a hug, and unlike the usual type of hug, that should be better called a glomp, this was a soft hug meant to show how much she cared about him.

This is what finally got a reaction from Ranma, but it was not the reaction they wanted. Still dragged down by his feelings of depression, the pigtailed boy was easily overwhelmed by Shampoo´s emotions, and reacted with the first thing that came to his mind. He ran away.

Watching his retreating back until it was out of sight, Ukyo let out a sad sight. She had been originally surprised by Shampoo´s display, and even a little hopeful that it would help Ranma, but it seemed that it was too soon to hope, the way to recovery would be an uphill battle. But she had to smile a little, she had never seen the Amazon acting like this, and showing how much she truly felt for Ranma, it opened her eyes a little about the other girl.

"_Maybe, the both of us could help him get himself together"_

Turning his sight to the purple haired girl, Ukyo let out another sight, Shampoo was just standing there, a hurt look in her eyes, though she could see it wasn´t aimed at Ranma, the girl was just mad at her own thoughtless words and actions.

"Don´t worry, sugar." began Ukyo, calling Shampoo´s attention to her. "Let´s just go out and get Ranchan back, he is going to need us to be there for him, and be patient with him now more than ever"

Looking over at the brunette, Shampoo stood there a few seconds, studying the chef, as if trying to resolve a riddle.

"Why you being so nice?" asked Shampoo.

"Right now, Ranchan need his friends, not his fiancés". Ukyo´s replay came without hesitation. "He needs to be with people who care, truly care about him, and I can see you are one of them, so until Ranchan gets better I am not his fiancé, but Ucchan, his best friend".

The sincerity in Ukyo´s voice was a little surprising for Shampoo, but slowly, she nodded to the other girl, she understood what she was saying, and she was actually a little glad, this meant that they could better help her Airen without getting in the way of each other, or try to out stage the other as to somehow gain Ranma´s favor, it was definitely not the time for that.

"Let´s go then, sugar"

Without another word both girls went out of the restaurant, after Ukyo turned off the stove, and went separate ways, looking for the boy that meant so much to both of them.

ºªºªºªº

Running through the streets of Nerima, Ranma didn´t even know where he was going, just that he didn´t want to see the pity and compassion in the eyes of Shampoo, feeling that he correctly assumed were mirrored by Ukyo´s eyes, he just couldn't deal with that at the moment, he just wanted to be left alone, alone to mourn the loss of his dreams, alone to cry without anyone to judge him unmanly for it.

He just wanted to be left alone, maybe forever, so that he did not have to deal with the new situation in his life, he did not want to face reality, to face the truth, because facing the truth would mean accepting the death of all his dreams, goals and aspirations, the death of everything that made him be who he was.

And so, he ran, for what seem like hours, he ran, and he ran, until he just couldn´t get his body to move any more, and collapsed on his own in a dead-end alley. He wasn´t tired, that he knew for sure, he wasn´t even sweating, but his body refused to move, it was like it was giving up, like it knew what happened to it and it, too, did not want to face that fact.

It was like this, face down on the ground, that Shampoo found him. Concerned for the boy, Shampoo ran at his side, turning him over to check for injuries, but finding none. Letting out a sigh of relief that he wasn´t hurt, that relief quickly turned to sorrow when she saw the completely lost look on the eyes of Ranma, it was as if the boy really was ready to give up on everything, and it broke Shampoo´s heart to see him this way.

"Ranma…" Shampoo had to stop, she didn´t actually know what to say, what could she say? What could she say that would help Ranma feel even a little, tiny, itty bit better? She didn´t know, so she just hug him to her body, trying to convey the feeling that she couldn´t express with words.

It was, at this moment that it began to rain, just a small drizzle, but it was enough to trigger both of their curses. And so now, lying on the ground, was Ranma~chan, with little Shampoo neko lying on her chest, sporting a sorrowful look in her feline eyes, fully aware of what was about to happen.

Predictably, Ranma~chan jumped back, pale as a ghost, and eyes filled with terror, backing away from the innocent, harmless little cat in front of her, each step full of desperation, and she didn´t stop until her back hit the end of the alley, where once her back touch the wall she slid to the ground, her sanity slowly slipping away.

Neko Shampoo could only look in sorrow as Ranma~chan backed away from her, she wanted to get close and reassure her, but she knew that she was only making the situation worse. She knew she needed to leave, and fast, but at the same time she thought that maybe, just maybe, losing his sane mind and just slipping into the feral mind of the nekoken could bring some strange type of relief to the boy, and so she stayed where she was, sadly looking at the terrified boy turned girl.

"_Is this what my life is going to be like, from now on?"_

That thought came crashing through his irrational fear. It brought such an over powered feeling of hopelessness to her heart that it was able to slice all her fears, and make them look so small that they were almost pitiful.

Was this really what his life would be like? Being powerless to protect him from even the smallest of dangers?

"_Might as well just turn the whole world into a giant cat"_ thought Ranma in a mocking way, his mind so overwhelmed by emotion that he actually felt nothing at this point.

It was an accurate assertion, without his strength he was back to that little boy who could not even protect himself from a bunch of starving cats. A little boy who was pretty much scared of everything around him, that could only face the world by relying on the conceived strength that his training gave him, but take that away and what is you left? Just a little boy, powerless to protect himself, scared of the world around him.

Ranma just slumped down to the ground, too tired to even be scared of the cat in front of him. What was the purpose anymore is not as if he could protect himself better from anything else, so just stayed where he was, there was no point in fighting anymore.

Shampoo stayed silent and unmoving as she saw Ranma enter the cycle of terror before he went cat, her eyes sad that she actually thought that this would be good for him, but determined to follow through with her idea. It came as a surprise when just a couple of minutes later, Ranma just slumped to the floor, unmoving, still breathing she noticed, but making no attempt at escaping her.

Concerned, Shampoo began taking slow steps towards Ranma, observing carefully for any flinch or strange movement that would indicate the Neko ken, she had no intention of being mauled by it, even if Ranma had no strength left, she knew that the neko ken could utilize ki as a form of attack, and that could still hurt her, she just didn´t know if that was affected by the moxibustion as well or not, but she had no intention of finding out.

When she was but a couple of steps away from the boy, and with still no visual reaction, Shampoo was finally able to see the tears in Ranma´s eyes, tears full of anger, resentment, resignation, and basically every negative emotion she could think of. Without thinking Shampoo leapt at Ranma, snuggling in her chest trying to console her, and paying no mind to the little flinch the girl gave when she touched him.

Slowly, and full of hesitation, Ranma grabbed the small cat in a hug, her mind recognizing her as Shampoo´s curse form, and even though her mind and phobia kept battling inside her, she manage to ignore everything and just concentrate on the feelings Shampoo was trying to get across to her, and they resonated strong in her mind.

"_I´ll be there for you, just trust me"_

It was then that she felt a pair of soft arms pull her to an equally soft chest, and she found herself held in Ukyo´s arms, feeling warmth for the first time since her fight with Happosai was over. Ukyo began humming a little tuneless lullaby, rocking the three of them from side to side, actually relaxing Ranma with the touching gesture. The gentle way that Ukyo held her with was actually having an effect on his tired mind, lulling her to sleep.

Noticing that Ranma was starting to fall asleep in her arms, Ukyo gave off a small smile, full of the hope and thrust she had for Ranma, she knew he would push through, and come up better than ever, it was who he was, and even if right now he was lost, and couldn´t find his path, she would be there to pull him in the right direction, she could do no less for the man that meant everything to her.

"Let's go home, Ranchan" said Ukyo while pulling the two of them to their feet, Shampoo, still in neko form being held in Ranma´s arms. "Don´t worry about a thing, until you find your path again I will be there to help you" sending a quick look at Shampoo, the girl corrected herself "WE will be there to help you get better"

Looking deeply into her best friend eyes, Ranma stayed silent for a few moments, weighting Ukyo´s words and their meaning. Finally after a few minutes of just staring at her, and for the first time seeing all the care and love that Ukyo really held for her, Ranma spoke.

"But, what if I don´t get better?"

"You will"

Ukyo´s answer came immediately, without hesitation and with all the faith she had in him, making Ranma stagger by the bluntness of it.

"How do you know?" she just had to ask that, she needed to know how she could have so much faith in him.

"Because you are Ranma Saotome, my oldest and best friend, and the man I love, and I will not let you give up on yourself"

Ukyo stayed silent for just a couple of seconds, letting Ranma absorb what was said, before speaking again.

"Your body may be weak now, but I know that your heart is as strong as ever, and I believe with all my being that you will find your strength, even if your bode never becomes powerful again"

Looking into the eyes of Ukyo, Ranma could only nod her head, overwhelmed by how much faith she saw in the chef´s eyes. Looking down at the cat in her arms she could see the same feelings mirrored by neko Shampoo.

Maybe… just maybe, he could overcome this.

Letting out a small but true smile, Ranma let herself be dragged by Ukyo to her restaurant. It was a small step toward recovery, but it was a start, now he just needed to find her center again, and think things with a clear mind, if there was a way to overcome this, he would find it, he had to, he didn´t want to let this two down.

ºªºªºªº

**The End**

**Read AN at the top of chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The path to Strength**

**Summary**: Ranma was unable to get the cure to the weakness moxibustion, now trapped without his strength, will he lose himself as well to his own doubts? Ranma/Shampoo, Ranma/Ukyo, Ukyo/Ranma/Shampoo.

**Disclaimer**: I don't even own my computer, what makes you think I could own Ranma½?

**AN:** I don´t think anyone actually read the last author note that I posted, so I will repeat myself, this is something that I´m not sure if I will work on or not, so I leave it open to anyone that would like to take it.

"Dialogues"

"_Thoughts"_

Location

**Begin**

ºªºªºªº

The next morning, it was the sunlight hitting his face that woke him up. Not really feeling the need, or desire, to move, he lay where he was, in the spare room in Ukyo´s house, laying on a particularly soft and warm fuuton. As he remained quiet and still, the events of the last day came to his mind. It was still hard to believe, and Ranma wasn´t sure the he had completely accepted as the truth, but his mind was telling him that it had happened, and that he couldn´t fool himself forever. He stubbornly refused to acknowledge the voice of reason in his head.

Letting out a sigh, Ranma decided to think about the other stuff that happened last night. After he was found by Shampoo, and then Ukyo, they took him back to Ucchan´s, where Ukyo prepared something for them to eat. It was a testament to how out of it Ranma was when he ate at a normal speed and refused to have seconds of Ukyo´s okonomiyaki. After having dinner, Ukyo offered him the spare room in her home, and as tired as he was, Ranma accepted without complain, and soon found herself, as she was still on her cursed form, laying down on a spare fuuton that Ukyo let him use, where he fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the pillow.

Ranma blinked form a moment as a strange thought came to his mind. His recount of last night was missing something, but he just couldn´t put his finger on what was bothering him. Frowning a little in concentration, he tried to remember what it was that he forgot. He blinked again when the thought came to him that he didn´t remember where Shampoo was last night after coming to Ucchan´s.

That was when a small movement got his attention. He could feel something squirming under the covers, as if something small, and furry if his sense of touch was right, was trying to look for a comfortable pose to sleep in. Ranma took a sharp intake of air, already fearing what he was going to find once he looked down.

Slowly, reluctantly, and if he was honest with himself, with some fear and anxiety, he pulled off the covers, finding exactly what he expected. There, nuzzling his chest, looking at him with what anyone else would call a cute face, was Neko Shampoo, her little cat eyes staring directly into his own. It took Ranma just a second to react. With speed that Neko Shampoo could barely follow, Ranma was on her feet, backing into the back wall of the room she was in, eyes full of irrational fear; his thoughts from the day before forgotten in his sudden bout of phobia induced terror.

Neko Shampoo could only blink at the suddenness of Ranma´s reaction, yesterday the boy turned girl had seen so at ease with her current body, actually refusing to let go of her, hugging her harder when she tried to get out of her grip, though Neko Shampoo could barely tell the difference, what with Ranma´s strength being sealed and all. Now though, it seemed that Ranma was back to her usual reaction to cats.

Taking one step towards the boy, Neko Shampoo had to stop herself and backed off a little as she began to notice the little signs of Ranma entering the Neko ken, but it was too late already, as with a hiss Ranma jumped out of the open window in the room, his body movements mimicking that of a cat´s.

Blinking in confusion, Neko Shampoo could only look as Ranma´s form began to fade in the distance, soon disappearing from her sight. With a sigh, or at least the cat equivalence of a sigh, Neko Shampoo decided to go look for Ukyo, and some hot water, so she could explain what happened, hopefully the two of them would be able to find him soon.

Tendou Dojo

Looking around the table, Akane couldn´t help but feel that something was missing. It had been a hard night for the girl. After Ranma ran away, followed by Ukyo and Shampoo, Akane decided to return to her house, unable, and unwilling, to face Ranma at the moment. Even then, the girl had felt a little hope that Ranma would be home when she got there, but that wasn´t the case.

Akane stayed up most of the last night waiting for Ranma to return, but fell asleep in the little hours of the morning, when she couldn´t keep herself awake anymore. By the time she woke up, she ran to Ranma´s room, hopping to see him snoring away in his futon, but only found Genma, in his panda form, sleeping in a corner. So now she sat here, waiting for breakfast to be served by her big sister Kasumi, her mind a whirlwind of activity, thinking about only one thing, Ranma.

Yesterday she was unable to ran after him, the guilt she felt at the situation was enough that it had make her freeze, with only one question repeating itself in her mind. What good am I without my strength?

During the night Akane had the chance to truly think about that question, even going as far as putting herself in Ranma´s place. To her, strength wasn´t that important. Sure, she was a martial artist, but that was not what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, for her it was just a way to connect with her father, a way to make him proud, but she had dreams and aspirations that went far beyond simply being a martial artist. But that was her, she could clearly see that there was a huge difference between her and Ranma. She wasn´t a martial artist at heart, at least not like Ranma, who based his whole being, his whole life and all his dreams towards the practice and learning of martial arts.

When she realized that, she cried, long and hard, she actually fell asleep while crying. It was because of the deep sympathetic pain that she felt for someone that she cared about. She was still confused about her feelings towards Ranma, at some points she felt like she loved him, at others like she hated him, but she could at the very least admit to herself that she cared a lot for the boy, and it was that same care that led her to feel so much empathy for him, because the thought of him loosing something that he cared so much about, maybe the one thing he cared about above all else, hurt her, if only because she knew just how much Ranma was hurting.

"It´s all right, he must be with Ukyo or maybe with Shampoo, they won´t let him do anything rash..." Akane muttered to herself, so distracted by her thoughts that she missed the looks that Nabiki send her way.

It was at that moment that a knock at the door interrupted the Tendou´s, and their guest´s, breakfast. Akane ignored the knock, if it had been Ranma he would have just walk in without knocking or jumped over the wall, so she didn´t care who was at the door.

Kasumi was the one who decided to answer the door, exiting the kitchen while wiping her hands in her apron, a pleasant smile on her face just like always.

It was just a couple of moments later that she returned, Shampoo and Ukyo following behind her.

"Ukyo, Shampoo? What are you doing here? Where´s Ranma?" Akane asked fast the moment she turned to face her sister to see who was with her and discovered the two girls in her house, her eyes widening in worry at not seeing Ranma with them, her mind providing her with horrible possibilities one after another.

"Calm down, sugar" said Ukyo in a calm voice "Ranma stayed with me last night, he´s fine" in her mind she added _"I hope"._

Calming down a little at being reassured that the pigtailed boy was okay, the sighed in relief, before returning her attention to the girls now sitting in front of her at the table, where Kasumi had told them to sit.

"Where is he?"

"Well, that´s actually what we´re here for, sugar" said Ukyo, and she continued before Akane could get worried again "Don´t worry is not anything too bad" she said making placating motions with her hands, Shampoo, who sat beside her just looked down a little ashamed that she was the culprit of her airen´s disappearance "Ranchan just had a little incident with a cat... so we came to enlist your help, sugar" she finished with a bright smile on her face.

"Cat?" she asked, more to herself than anyone else "Shampoo?" she said calmly, though it came sounding like an accusation, which wasn´t her intention, at least not fully.

With a sigh and a nod from the amazon, Akane stood, followed by Ukyo and Shampoo. In just a few minutes, Akane informed her oldest sister about the situation, changed the clothes she was wearing for something more suited for tracking a big cat through the city, after all she couldn´t really go looking for Ranma while wearing her pajamas, and was out the door with the two other girls following her.

She didn´t really had the need to ask why Ukyo and Shampoo came to her for help, the moment they said that Ranma entered the Neko ken state she knew she had to help, after all she was one of the few, if not the only one, that was able to snap Ranma out of his cat like mind state.

With Ranma, Unknown location

Run. Run. Run.

That was what her instincts keep telling her. While on the Neko Ken Ranma´s human mind was lost to her, in favor of obeying a more instinct driven mind, a more primal mind per se. It didn´t really know what had happen to her body, but her instincts screamed at her that she was in danger, that everything around her was a danger to her, and that she needed to run; to run and hide.

In the state she was in, all sounds around her were a danger, all movement, no matter how small or big, was a predator waiting to kill her. With terror running through her mind she hid in the first place she found abandoned of all life, an empty park, where she hid under a bush, hopping that nothing would be able to find her.

It was like this that Akane, Ukyo and Shampoo found her. She was a pitiful sight, shivering, not in cold but in fright, jumping at the smallest of noises, flinching at the faintest of breezes rustling the leafs on trees. It was something that reminded all of them just how affected Ranma truly was, that even in the mindless state of the Neko Ken, she still felt fear.

Ukyo looked at Shampoo, placing a hand on the girls shoulder when it look like she was ready to jump on Ranma to hug her, that was not what Ranma needed at the moment. Sending a nod at Akane, silently telling her that she would calm Shampoo down while she did the same with Ranma, she dragged the amazon a little bit away from Akane and Ranma, to give them some space.

Steadying her nerves, Akane took a step towards Ranma. That proved to be a mistake. With speed only available to Ranma through the Neko ken, she snapped forwards, her hand suddenly holding long ki claws that shredded right through the tree behind Akane. It was only her reflexes reacting better than ever before that allowed the girl to jump to the side, evading most of the damage but still getting a somewhat deep cut on her arm.

With a cry of shock and pain she fell to the floor, and neko Ranma took the opportunity to run away. Ukyo and Shampoo ran to Akane, worried about the blood that they could see flowing from the wound on her arm.

Akane ignored the looks and questions of concern from the two girls, still in shock about what had just happen. Ranma attacked her. Not only that but had the attack hit it could have very well been fatal, considering the state of the tree that got shredded to pieces.

"I was worried that this could happen"

A voice behind them surprised them, causing them to turn around quickly, with Akane wincing as she disturbed her wound with the harsh move she did.

"Great grandmother! What you doing here?" exclaimed Shampoo, the first to get over her shock at someone sneaking behind them, knowing just how skilled the old woman was.

"I was looking for son in law, to see how he was handling the situation, when I stumbled into your little group" she said in a serious tone of voice, though Shampoo could hear a little concern in her voice "Also, I wanted to warn Shampoo about triggering the cat state as it could become a true problem"

"What do you mean, become a problem? Does it has something to do about Ranchan attacking Akane?" Asked Ukyo quickly, worried about both her best friend and the wounded girls besides her.

Nodding her head in a slow manner, Cologne took a couple of seconds to decide how exactly she was going to explain the bad news to this girls. She was especially worried about her great granddaughter, there was just no telling how she was going to react, with the over emotional way she had been acting since yesterday.

"Right now, Ranma´s neko ken is in a state of paranoia, everything is an enemy, and it will not let anything get close to him without him attacking"

"So Akane will not be able to calm him down?" Asked Ukyo, while using the long ribbon she used to tie her hair to dress Akane´s wound, her mind going a mile a minute, trying to find a way to help Ranma. "What about triggering his curse, that has worked before, right?"

"Yeah, usually triggering the curse snaps him out of the neko ken" responded Akane, feeling a little better, now that the shock of being attacked wore off, her wound still hurt, but for the moment she pushed that to the back of her mind.

Shampoo stayed quiet, looking intently at her great grandmother, her eyes showing the usual intensity she reserved for Ranma, there had to be more to it than that, otherwise her great grandmother wouldn´t have gotten involved.

"It won´t work, not in the state he is in" Cologne shook her head from side to side "Right now there is only one thing that would snap him out of the Neko Ken" she waited for a few moments, for dramatic effect more than anything "Someone will have to defeat him and knock him out"

The eyes of the three girls widened instantly in surprise and a little horror.

"What!? But is impossible to defeat Ranma while he is using the Neko Ken!?" exclaimed Ukyo and Akane.

"Great grandmother know Neko Ken is worst technique to face in combat!" was Shampoo´s scream.

"It is true that the neko ken is a fearsome technique. While in this state the speed, agility and reflexes of the user are pushed to the limits of the human body, the sensory system is enhanced to the point it becomes virtually impossible to sneak up on a user of this skill and it grants an instinctual and almost perfect ability to manipulate and shape the ki of the user into deadly weapons"

The girls paled more and more with each word spoken, they had known that the neko ken granted Ranma a lot of power, but it had never occurred to either of them just why it was called an invincible technique, now they knew. Seeing the pale faces of the girls, Cologne decided to continue before the girls decided that it was impossible.

"But it is not without a weakness" this caught the girl's attention "It is the most glaring weakness to be exploited, the lack of actual intelligence in the technique, making the user easy to manipulate"

Seeing that the girls looked interested, Cologne decided that it was time to get to the point.

"So what do you say, girls, would anyone of you care to learn how to defeat the unbeatable neko ken?"

The smile on the old woman´s face was as horrible as it was foreboding.

ºªºªºªº

**The End**

**A/N:** Well, here it is. I wasn't actually sure that I would ever write another chapter to this, but it seems like it wants to be written so I will work on in when I have the time.

As an interesting note, I found out recently just what it feels to be completely powerless. Some couple of months back I was kidnapped along with my grandfather, we were held for more than half a month, and I can honestly say that it was the worst experience of my life, to be completely unable to fight back.

Well, hope you like this chapter, as I see it, this story isn´t going to be too long, maybe around ten 6 to 10 chapters.

R&amp;R

As I have already stated in the last chapter, I want to see if someone would take this story and make it their own, because to tell the truth I really don´t want to watch the anime again, I just don´t have the time for that, so I am working with half remembered bits and pieces and semi competent internet research.

Because of this reason I decided to write the core premises that give life to this story for anyone to use.

Also, someone send me a review about me using the names Xian Pu instead of Shampoo and Ku Long in place of Cologne, I don´t really remember where I saw their names like this, I just remember that I liked them, so I apologize for this but I will sometimes exchange this names.

Basic Changes that Give Life to this Story:

1\. Akane was more hesitant to go and help Ranma, she was overcome with shock and wasn´t able to snap out of it fast enough to go to try and cheer up Ranma. Beside this she was overcome with guilt at being unable to answer Ranma´s question earlier.

2\. Ukyo putting far more value in her friendship with Ranma. Although she was still involved in the fights over Ranma, and sometimes acted far too aggressive, she was still more concerned over being Ranma´s friend, wishing if nothing else for his happiness, but fully believing that she could make him happy, be it as a friend or a lover, to her the most important thing was Ranma´s happiness.

3\. Shampoo, truthfully falling in love with Ranma, wishes nothing but to be at his side, even if she let herself be dragged to a lot of the fights over Ranma, she still wants to show Ranma that she really loves him, though her background and her customs, together with her blunt approach to him, makes Ranma uncomfortable around her. When this happens, it forces Shampoo to try to understand her feelings for Ranma, to know if she actually loved the person or the martial artist, and decided that it didn´t matter to her if Ranma was weak or strong, she would still love him and be by his side.

4\. Ranma, forced to confront a reality in which his dreams were unattainable to him, where he would never be able to become the greatest martial artist, finds out that he needs to start growing as a person instead of just as a martial artist, and with this new open mind for growth he begins to notice the people around him and starts to understand what he feel for those important to him.

**A/N2:** As a side note, I was actually accused of changing the story so as to force an outcome that would fit my preferences. Correct me if I am wrong but isn´t that exactly what fan fiction is about? Making changes so as to tell a completely different and original story that fits my vision of the series?


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